POVERTY AND FAMINE IN INDONESIA

I chose this material because I have ever stayed in Jakarta there is a big city but I still
found the slums that average people are poor and hungry.
Poverty is a situation where there is an inability to meet basic needs such as food,
clothing, shelter, education, and health. Poverty can be caused by the scarcity of means of
fulfilling basic needs, or the difficulty of access to education and employment. Poverty is a
global problem. Most people understand this term is subjective and comparative, while others
see it in terms of moral and evaluative, and still others understand from a scientific angle that
has been established, etc.
Famine is an extreme form of normal appetite. The term is generally used to refer to
the condition of malnutrition experienced group of people in large numbers for a relatively
long period of time, usually because of poverty, political conflict, and drought weather.
Causes of poverty:
 Individual cause, or pathological, which sees poverty as a result of the
behavior, choices, or the ability of the poor. Examples of behavior and choice
are the use of funds does not measure income.
 Family causes, linking poverty with family education. The cause of the family
can also be a number of family members is not comparable to financial
income families.
 The cause of sub-culture (subculture), linking poverty with daily life, learned
or run in the neighborhood. Individuals or families who are easily tempted by
a neighboring state are an example.
 Agency causes, which see poverty as a result of the actions of others,
including war, government, and economics. Examples of the actions of others
more salary or honorarium is controlled by another person or party. Another
example is slavery.
 Structural causes, which argue that poverty is the result of the social structure.

Poverty can also be caused by:

 low quality of labor force
 a difficult and limited access to capital holdings
 the low level of mastery of technology
 inefficient use of resources,
  the high population growth

1. Creating Good Jobs

Creating jobs, both in the United States and abroad, is a great way to reduce poverty. When
people have jobs, they have income, and when people have income, they can more easily get
themselves out of poverty. The UN says that “unemployment and underemployment lies at
the core of poverty. For the poor, labor is often the only asset they can use to improve their
well-being.”

2. Educating for children and teenagers

Education is one thing that is very important for children and teenagers, because they are the
spearhead of the country and the key to the success of a nation.

3. Raising Wages

The United States hasn’t raised the federal minimum wage since 2007. Because of this, right
now, “A full-time worker with two children earning the minimum wage will still raise his or
her family in poverty.” And this is an issue in almost every other country, especially in
developing nations. Raising the minimum wages could potentially increase the health and
wellbeing of millions.

4. Micro financing

Microfinance is defined as the “supply of loans, savings, and other basic financial services to
the poor.” Right now, only about “10 percent of the global population has access to
traditional banking,” according the Gates Foundation. However, using microfinance,
people who are unemployed or who have a low income could get small loans to help
themselves become self-sufficient. An organization called Kiva has provided over $329
million to 786,000 lenders, with a repayment rate of 98.97%. Microfinance is a promising
way to alleviate poverty.
5. Gender Equality

As the U.N. Development Programmer says, “when women have equal access to education,
and go on to participate fully in business and economic decision-making, they are a key
driving force against poverty.” Not only this, but increases in gender equality
raises household incomes and “translates into better prospects and greater well-being of
children,” which is a smart way reduce the poverty for future generations, as well as our own
generation.

6. Transparency in Government Spending

Creating transparency in government spending of money can help reduce corruption in

governments. When governments are accountable to their citizens for their action, or inaction,
in different areas of the federal budget, the citizens will be able to accurately assess how well
their leaders are leading their country. Also, it allows citizens to see if money is being taken
away from poverty-reduction plans and into the pockets of their leaders, which could be a
cause of a stagnant economy or job market.

7. Canceling National Debts

As mentioned by Share the World’s Resources, “It is internationally recognized that the debt
burden of the world’s poorest, most indebted countries has to be tackled if they are to set
themselves on a path of sustainable growth, development, and poverty reduction.” This is
why the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have created the Initiative for
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs). The initiative helps with the debt relief to
currently 23 poor countries (mostly in Africa) that are committed to eradicating poverty in
their nations. There have been successes in a few countries, thus far, and this initiative can
help governments “get back on their feet” so that they can focus on developing for the future
instead of trying to pay back what was spent in the past.

8. Access to Health Care

The President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, says that he believes “universal health
insurance coverage in all countries can help achieve a goal of ending extreme poverty by
2030.” He says that because about 100 million people are pushed into extreme poverty every
year by having to spend money on health issues, and that because health issues push about
another 150 million into severe financial hardship, universal health insurance could greatly
relieve poverty, globally.

9. Access to Clean Water and Sanitation

The World Bank says that “Access to clean water and sanitation is one of the most cost-
effective development interventions, and is critical for reducing poverty.” The reasons for this
are that women can use the time that they would have spent fetching water to work and
produce more, agricultural production could increase, and the costs of services and goods
could go down a fair amount. Not only that, but because “diseases caused by unsafe drinking
water and poor sanitation are the most significant child health problems worldwide,” having
access to clean water could significantly lower the health care costs of these many children.

10. Nutrition, Especially in Infants

Adequate nutrition is an incredibly important indicator of a person’s ability to get out of

poverty, later in life. Those who are malnourished from the time of conception to 24 months,
postpartum “have higher risks of life long physical and mental disability.” Because of this,
they are “often trapped in poverty,” and are not able to make the full contribution to the
“social and economic development of their households and communities, as adults.” This is a
cause of poverty for many people, and in many countries, the GDP goes down due to this
early malnutrition in infants.

According to BPS, the number of poor-population with per capita per month below of
poverty line-in March 2016 in Indonesia reached 28.01 million or equivalent to 10.86 percent
of the total population of Indonesia.

Based on BPS poverty profile, although in terms of the amount of poverty in rural
areas declined, but the percentage of poor people increased. In March 2015 the percentage of
poor rural areas amounted to 14.21 percent, then dropped in September 2015 to 14.09 percent
after rising 0.02 percent in the month of March 2016 became 14.11 percent. When referring
to the data Farmer (NTP), which continues to decline-from 102.55 in January 2016 became
101.47 in June 2016-it is natural for increasing the percentage of poverty in rural areas, for
agriculture dropped.

It is a different story for those living in rural areas. Approximately 70 percent of the
population lives in rural areas, where agriculture is the main source of income. Poverty tends
to be higher in these areas; 16.6 per cent of rural people are poor compared with 9.9 percent
of urban populations. Millions of small farmers, farm workers and fishermen are materially
and financially unable to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the economic growth.
They are often geographically isolated and lack access to agricultural extension services,
markets and financial services.

According to the World Bank, approximately 65 million people in Indonesia live just
above the poverty line, making them vulnerable to falling into poverty. Millions lack basic
human needs, such as food, clean water, shelter, sanitary environments and education. In fact,
few families living in poverty have their own bathrooms. Most communities share a
communal bathing facility, often located miles from villages. Many of the poorest people
cannot read or write.

According to the announcement from United Nation, each day about 25.000 people
die because of hunger. And hunger caused by poverty. It means, now, hunger and poverty is
still remaining as an urgent problem for us, for every country. We have to prevent it and save
many souls. There are many nutritious foods all around the world. But the problem is, they all
living in poverty, not able to buy food. They’re trapped in severe poverty and it makes their
children also live in poverty and not have much nutrition to live. They’re being constantly
living in malnutrition. Malnutrition makes them always getting sick. It makes them not able
to work and didn’t produce money for themselves and their family. So, they keep living in
poverty and hunger. Finally, they die by the time.

How about us? Don’t we sad to hear that? Don’t you ever aware that Indonesia is one
of the country that living in hunger and poverty? You know that, United Nation said that
“Indonesia is one of seven countries who have the most of underfed citizens”. We must be
sad to hear this information. This is an urgent problem for us, as a citizen of Indonesia. Our
president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has made a program to overcome poverty. He said
that he will make that as first priorities of it. Example, giving direct help like BLT (Bantuan
Langsung Tunai) and many other projects. But that is not enough to overcome hunger and
poverty in Indonesia. And nowadays poverty and hunger is like making a scar to Indonesia.
We as an educational student, we must do something to prevent it. Wiping out hunger will
overcome serious effort and make our country to become a real development country. People
living in good life, have steady jobs, and able to enjoy nutritious food. Same like us, people
who was given by God chance to enjoy it.

Conclusion:
Starvation will lead to conditions of malnutrition experienced group of people in large
numbers for a relatively long period of time. Poverty can be seen as the collective condition
of poor people, poverty is a global problem the world. Poverty is largely due to the problem
of unemployment that occurs as a result of laziness. Should the government and the people
are competent; to rethink the education People are increasingly worse. Potential resource
potential for the supply of qualified people. Variety of ways that can be done to rescue these
people from ignorance and oppression, the most important is the seriousness of the
Government and Wisdom rulers of this country not to see them increasingly oppressed.

Let’s do the same things with them. The key is HONEST. Take what you must be
taking, and leave what you have to leave. Stop corruption! Be honest! Stop poverty! Prevent
hunger! Save Indonesia.